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Old 08-05-2014, 05:20 AM   #1
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WINEGARD Antenna Problem / Complaint

I have a 1995 Rexhall 34 ft. that I recently bought and find that the Winegard antenna , likely original, does not seem to pick up VHF stations ... only UHF.

I tried to call Winegard ... and as usual, they will not come to the phone directly. They ALWAYS ask you to leave a message which they will NEVER-EVER return. This is nothing new, since I have had to call them in past years, and got the same treatment.

I did send an E-Mail which prompted a series of 9 e-mail exchanges yesterday ....none of which gave me any clue as to what the problem was, and what the FIX could be.

I am fed up with them, and found a KING CONTROLS replacement head, that the RV dealer said is MUCH better than Winegard, so I plan to buy that one.

Has anyone had the VHF problem ... and has anyone had experience with King Controls head ?

Thanks ... Richard
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Old 08-05-2014, 06:47 AM   #2
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I believe that most (if not all by now) OTA channels are UHF now after the switch to Digital and HD. The VHF band is being utilized for other services now. Check out the "Digital Transition and Public Safety Act of 2005" it will explain a lot.
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Old 08-05-2014, 07:03 AM   #3
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Winegard Problem

I talked with the tower engineer at channel 7 WSPA in Spartanburg , yesterday. He said the VHF stations were set up differently than UHF , even on the digital side ... i.e. 7.1 7.2 etc.

I guess my big complaint is, Winegard refuses to provide PHONE SUPPORT so you only get small " NIBBLES" of answers back, and they do not offer much more than that.

Thanks for the response ..... Richard
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Old 08-05-2014, 07:20 AM   #4
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The amp in my old Batwing failed so I could not get much of anything. The older ones were not designed for the new tv transmissions.

I bought the JACK from King Controls and it worked great. But I forgot to lower it one day and the mechanism broke but the Jack still work without raising it. Liked the reception so much I ordered the full Jack Antenna to replace the old crank up stuff. Will be installing it this week. It has a signal finder on it so all you have to do is turn the antenna to the signal and setup TV. No Crankup. Will keep the other Jack as a spare head incase the amp fails. I called King about my problem and they present me a manual so I could look at the installation.

Also have a King Dome I use for Dish. Had no problems with their customer service. Talked to them many times over the last five years.

tom
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Old 08-05-2014, 07:26 AM   #5
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Are you assuming there are VHF stations in you reception area, or do you know this as fact?

That antenna, assuming it's the bat wing style, is still one of the best available. Commonly, they employ a built in amplifier, which often has a switch, and a red LED when turned on? This might be the same shape and size as a wall switch, but it's also possible it's buried out of sight somewhere.

To test it, you remove the lead from the antenna up on the roof. You can then use a voltmeter to see if there is 12v available when testing from the outside jacket to the thin lead inside the cable. If you have 12v there, the amp within the antenna head is bad. If you don't have 12v, the wiring, power source, whatever, is bad and additional trouble shooting is required.
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Old 08-05-2014, 07:32 AM   #6
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AHICKS ..I have 3 VHF channels in the immediate area.
I just got off the phone with a Sales rep at KING ... and I feel that their attitude is more oriented toward customer service than Winegard's is.

I will check the voltage also...

Thank You ... Richard
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Old 08-05-2014, 08:20 AM   #7
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Originally Posted by RLD_999 View Post
AHICKS ..I have 3 VHF channels in the immediate area.
I just got off the phone with a Sales rep at KING ... and I feel that their attitude is more oriented toward customer service than Winegard's is.

I will check the voltage also...

Thank You ... Richard
It's usually the other way around. Do you have analog TVs with a digital converter? Do the UHF channels work?
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Old 08-05-2014, 08:47 AM   #8
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No .. I have a new digital TV with internet features.
I get 30 UHF channels, and all are clear and great picture.
I do ALSO have a Digital Converter Box that came in the unit, so I even tried it, using HDMI 1 ..... Same results.

Thanks for the response ... Richard
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Old 08-05-2014, 09:07 AM   #9
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There are many thigns that can cause this.. For example in my case It turns out I had put a satellite diplixer type splitter in, this is one that passes power.. Turns out the unit was mis-labeled and on the power pass port it did not also pass VHF, only UHF.

A bad cable or connection.. UHF will get past a tarnished connector better than VHF (Cable where I'm at is like that, VHF low does not come in well, VHF hi and UHF no problem).

And of course something could be bad inside the head.

NOTE: with modern Digital TV, channel 7.1 or 7.2 could be transmitting on channel 7 (VHF-HI) (Upstate SC) or... most anything else (41 or 46 in Detroit, forget which) your TV knows and might be able to inform you, My digital converters are nice and chatty.
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Old 08-05-2014, 10:31 AM   #10
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RLD_999, what is your zip code?

We apologize for any lack of communication. We here at Winegard pride ourselves on providing our customers with the highest level of antenna products and service. Right now we are experiencing the most traffic on phones to this year, and are very busy trying to keep up with the customer. Rather than have you wait on hold, we have you leave a message so we can return your call. With that direct information you should be able to get through much faster. I will PM you the direct contact information to the over-the-air specialist here at Winegard.

Thanks,
La Mar Timmons
Winegard Digital Communications.
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Old 08-05-2014, 11:12 AM   #11
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Any chance you might have the tv configured incorrectly. They can be confusing. The VHF channels may be analog and your tv may be scanning for digitals. Your symptoms do not add up to a bad antenna. Since you are receiving so many UHF channels it seems unlikely the antenna is bad.

However, in certain conditions such as dry batteries, connected to shoreline, I have seen them go bad and emit harmful interference. Can't say how they performed under those conditions because they were promptly removed.
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Old 08-05-2014, 11:27 AM   #12
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I have always had great service from Winegard. Yes I have sent emails and left messages but always had someone return my calls and emails. 1 instance the tech stayed on the phone with me for over 45 minutes getting my sat dish to work! I'll stick up for those folks anytime due to the past service they have provided.
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Old 08-05-2014, 09:29 PM   #13
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I'll stick up for those folks anytime due to the past service they have provided.
Me too. They were very helpful with troubleshooting when I had a problem adding a SWM to my Trav'ler dish. He had me perform a couple of simple tests to pinpoint the likely culprit, and arranged for me to buy the part I needed (coax cable bundle, out of warranty by quite a bit.)
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Old 08-06-2014, 05:50 AM   #14
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Smile WINEGARD Problem / Complaint

Thanks to all who responded, and while it sounds like some have had happy experiences with Winegard, others have responded to me that they have NOT !

I put the KING CONTROLS 'Jack' head on this morning, and my channels went from 30 to a whopping .... 57 !

Charlotte is 85-90 miles away from me, and I get a bunch of their stations with PERFECT clarity... same with Columbia SC , which is 90 miles away.

And that is with the antenna pointing NORTH ( Charlotte is West ... and Columbia is South ! The JACK is less critical on direction and seems to live up to that concept .

Richard
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